Title 49—Transportation--Volume 1
PART 237—BRIDGE SAFETY STANDARDS
§ 237.1   Application.
(a) Except as provided in paragraphs (b) or (c) of this section, this part applies to all owners of railroad track with a gage of two feet or more and which is supported by a bridge.
(b) This part does not apply to bridges on track used exclusively for rapid transit operations in an urban area that are not connected with the general railroad system of transportation.
(c) This part does not apply to bridges located within an installation which is not part of the general railroad system of transportation and over which trains are not operated by a railroad.
§ 237.3   Responsibility for compliance.
(a) Except as provided in paragraph (b) of this section, an owner of track to which this part applies is responsible for compliance.
(b) If an owner of track to which this part applies assigns responsibility for the bridges that carry the track to another person (by lease or otherwise), written notification of the assignment shall be provided to the appropriate FRA Regional Office at least 30 days in advance of the assignment. The notification may be made by any party to that assignment, but shall be in writing and include the following—
(1) The name and address of the track owner;
(2) The name and address of the person to whom responsibility is assigned (assignee);
(3) A statement of the exact relationship between the track owner and the assignee;
(4) A precise identification of the track segment and the individual bridges in the assignment;
(5) A statement as to the competence and ability of the assignee to carry out the bridge safety duties of the track owner under this part; and
(6) A statement signed by the assignee acknowledging the assignment to him of responsibility for purposes of compliance with this part.
(c) The Administrator may hold the track owner or the assignee, or both, responsible for compliance with this part and subject to penalties under § 237.7.
(d) A common carrier by railroad which is directed by the Surface Transportation Board to provide service over the track of another railroad under 49 U.S.C. 11123 is considered the owner of that track for the purposes of the application of this part during the period the directed service order remains in effect.
(e) When any person, including a contractor for a railroad or track owner, performs any function required by this part, that person is required to perform that function in accordance with this part.
(f) Where an owner of track to which this part applies has previously assigned responsibility for a segment of track to another person as prescribed in 49 CFR 213.5(c), additional notification to FRA is not required.
(g) FRA reserves the right to reject an assignment of responsibility under § 237.3(b) for cause shown.
§ 237.5   Definitions.
For the purposes of this part—
Bridge modification means a change to the configuration of a railroad bridge that affects the load capacity of the bridge.
Bridge repair means remediation of damage or deterioration which has affected the structural integrity of a railroad bridge.
Railroad bridge means any structure with a deck, regardless of length, which supports one or more railroad tracks, or any other undergrade structure with an individual span length of 10 feet or more located at such a depth that it is affected by live loads.
Track owner means a person responsible for compliance in accordance with § 237.3.
§ 237.7   Penalties.
(a) Any person who violates any requirement of this part or causes the violation of any such requirement is subject to a civil penalty of at least $1,114 and not more than $36,439 per violation, except that: Penalties may be assessed against individuals only for willful violations, and, where a grossly negligent violation or a pattern of repeated violations has created an imminent hazard of death or injury to persons, or has caused death or injury, a penalty not to exceed $145,754 per violation may be assessed. “Person” means an entity of any type covered under 1 U.S.C. 1, including but not limited to the following: A railroad; a manager, supervisor, official, or other employee or agent of a railroad; any owner, manufacturer, lessor, or lessee of railroad equipment, track, or facilities; any independent contractor providing goods or services to a railroad; any employee of such owner, manufacturer, lessor, lessee, or independent contractor; and anyone held by the Administrator of the Federal Railroad Administration to be responsible under § 237.3(d). Each day a violation continues shall constitute a separate offense. See FRA's website at www.fra.dot.gov for a statement of agency civil penalty policy.
(b) Any person who knowingly and willfully falsifies a record or report required by this part may be subject to criminal penalties under 49 U.S.C. 21311.
§ 237.9   Waivers.
(a) Any person subject to a requirement of this part may petition the Administrator for a waiver of compliance with such requirement. The filing of such a petition does not affect that person's responsibility for compliance with that requirement while the petition is being considered.
(b) Each petition for waiver must be filed in the manner and contain the information required by part 211 of this chapter.
(c) If the Administrator finds that a waiver of compliance is in the public interest and is consistent with railroad safety, the Administrator may grant the waiver subject to any conditions the Administrator deems necessary. If a waiver is granted, the Administrator publishes a notice in the Federal Register containing the reasons for granting the waiver.
§ 237.31   Adoption of bridge management programs.
Each track owner shall adopt a bridge safety management program to prevent the deterioration of railroad bridges by preserving their capability to safely carry the traffic to be operated over them, and reduce the risk of human casualties, environmental damage, and disruption to the Nation's railroad transportation system that would result from a catastrophic bridge failure, not later than the dates in the following schedule:
(a) March 14, 2011: Class I carriers;
(b) March 14, 2011: Owners of track segments which are part of the general railroad system of transportation and which carry more than ten scheduled passenger trains per week;
(c) September 13, 2011: Class II carriers to which paragraph (b) of this section does not apply; and
(d) September 13, 2012: All other track owners subject to this part and not described paragraphs (a) through (c) of this section.
§ 237.33   Content of bridge management programs.
Each bridge management program adopted in compliance with this part shall include, as a minimum, the following:
(a) An accurate inventory of railroad bridges, which shall include a unique identifier for each bridge, its location, configuration, type of construction, number of spans, span lengths, and all other information necessary to provide for the management of bridge safety;
(b) A record of the safe load capacity of each bridge;
(c) A provision to obtain and maintain the design documents of each bridge if available, and to document all repairs, modifications, and inspections of each bridge; and
(d) A bridge inspection program covering as a minimum:
(1) Inspection personnel safety considerations;
(2) Types of inspection including required detail;
(3) Definitions of defect levels along with associated condition codes if condition codes are used;
(4) The method of documenting inspections including standard forms or formats;
(5) Structure type and component nomenclature; and
(6) Numbering or identification protocol for substructure units, spans, and individual components.
§ 237.51   Railroad bridge engineers.
(a) A railroad bridge engineer shall be a person who is determined by the track owner to be competent to perform the following functions as they apply to the particular engineering work to be performed:
(1) Determine the forces and stresses in railroad bridges and bridge components;
(2) Prescribe safe loading conditions for railroad bridges;
(3) Prescribe inspection and maintenance procedures for railroad bridges; and
(4) Design repairs and modifications to railroad bridges.
(b) The educational qualifications of a railroad bridge engineer shall include either:
(1) A degree in engineering granted by a school of engineering with at least one program accredited by ABET, Inc. or its successor organization as a professional engineering curriculum, or a degree from a program accredited as a professional engineering curriculum by a foreign organization recognized by ABET, Inc. or its successor; or
(2) Current registration as a professional engineer.
(c) Nothing in this part affects the States' authority to regulate the professional practice of engineering.
§ 237.53   Railroad bridge inspectors.
A railroad bridge inspector shall be a person who is determined by the track owner to be technically competent to view, measure, report and record the condition of a railroad bridge and its individual components which that person is designated to inspect. An inspector shall be designated to authorize or restrict the operation of railroad traffic over a bridge according to its immediate condition or state of repair.
§ 237.55   Railroad bridge supervisors.
A railroad bridge supervisor shall be a person, regardless of position title, who is determined by the track owner to be technically competent to supervise the construction, modification or repair of a railroad bridge in conformance with common or particular specifications, plans and instructions applicable to the work to be performed, and to authorize or restrict the operation of railroad traffic over a bridge according to its immediate condition or state of repair.
§ 237.57   Designations of individuals.
Each track owner shall designate those individuals qualified as railroad bridge engineers, railroad bridge inspectors and railroad bridge supervisors. Each individual designation shall include the basis for the designation in effect and shall be recorded.
§ 237.71   Determination of bridge load capacities.
(a) Each track owner shall determine the load capacity of each of its railroad bridges. The load capacity need not be the ultimate or maximum load capacity, but must be a safe load capacity.
(b) The load capacity of each bridge shall be documented in the track owner's bridge management program, together with the method by which the capacity was determined.
(c) The determination of load capacity shall be made by a railroad bridge engineer using appropriate engineering methods and standards that are particularly applicable to railroad bridges.
(d) Bridge load capacity may be determined from existing design and modification records of a bridge, provided that the bridge substantially conforms to its recorded configuration. Otherwise, the load capacity of a bridge shall be determined by measurement and calculation of the properties of its individual components, or other methods as determined by a railroad bridge engineer.
(e) If a track owner has a group of bridges for which the load capacity has not already been determined, the owner shall schedule the evaluation of those bridges according to their relative priority, as established by a railroad bridge engineer. The initial determination of load capacity shall be completed not later than five years following the required date for adoption of the track owner's bridge management program in conformance with § 237.31.
(f) Where a bridge inspection reveals that, in the determination of the railroad bridge engineer, the condition of a bridge or a bridge component might adversely affect the ability of the bridge to carry the traffic being operated, a new capacity shall be determined.
(g) Bridge load capacity may be expressed in terms of numerical values related to a standard system of bridge loads, but shall in any case be stated in terms of weight and length of individual or combined cars and locomotives, for the use of transportation personnel.
(h) Bridge load capacity may be expressed in terms of both normal and maximum load conditions. Operation of equipment that produces forces greater than the normal capacity shall be subject to any restrictions or conditions that may be prescribed by a railroad bridge engineer.
§ 237.73   Protection of bridges from over-weight and over-dimension loads.
(a) Each track owner shall issue instructions to the personnel who are responsible for the configuration and operation of trains over its bridges to prevent the operation of cars, locomotives and other equipment that would exceed the capacity or dimensions of its bridges.
(b) The instructions regarding weight shall be expressed in terms of maximum equipment weights, and either minimum equipment lengths or axle spacing.
(c) The instructions regarding dimensions shall be expressed in terms of feet and inches of cross section and equipment length, in conformance with common railroad industry practice for reporting dimensions of exceptional equipment in interchange in which height above top-of-rail is shown for each cross section measurement, followed by the width of the car of the shipment at that height.
(d) The instructions may apply to individual structures, or to a defined line segment or group(s) of line segments where the published capacities and dimensions are within the limits of all structures on the subject line segments.
§ 237.101   Scheduling of bridge inspections.
(a) Each bridge management program shall include a provision for scheduling an inspection for each bridge in railroad service at least once in each calendar year, with not more than 540 days between any successive inspections.
(b) A bridge shall be inspected more frequently than provided for in the bridge management program when a railroad bridge engineer determines that such inspection frequency is necessary considering conditions noted on prior inspections, the type and configuration of the bridge, and the weight and frequency of traffic carried on the bridge.
(c) Each bridge management program shall define requirements for the special inspection of a bridge to be performed whenever the bridge is involved in an event which might have compromised the integrity of the bridge, including but not limited to a flood, fire, earthquake, derailment or vehicular or vessel impact.
(d) Any railroad bridge that has not been in railroad service and has not been inspected in accordance with this section within the previous 540 days shall be inspected and the inspection report reviewed by a railroad bridge engineer prior to the resumption of railroad service.
§ 237.103   Bridge inspection procedures.
(a) Each bridge management program shall specify the procedure to be used for inspection of individual bridges or classes and types of bridges.
(b) The bridge inspection procedures shall be as specified by a railroad bridge engineer who is designated as responsible for the conduct and review of the inspections. The inspection procedures shall incorporate the methods, means of access, and level of detail to be recorded for the various components of that bridge or class of bridges.
(c) The bridge inspection procedures shall ensure that the level of detail and the inspection procedures are appropriate to: the configuration of the bridge; conditions found during previous inspections; the nature of the railroad traffic moved over the bridge (including equipment weights, train frequency and length, levels of passenger and hazardous materials traffic); and vulnerability of the bridge to damage.
(d) The bridge inspection procedures shall be designed to detect, report and protect deterioration and deficiencies before they present a hazard to safe train operation.
§ 237.105   Special inspections.
(a) Each bridge management program shall prescribe a procedure for protection of train operations and for inspection of any bridge that might have been damaged by a natural or accidental event, including but not limited to a flood, fire, earthquake, derailment or vehicular or vessel impact.
(b) Each bridge management program shall provide for the detection of scour or deterioration of bridge components that are submerged, or that are subject to water flow.
§ 237.107   Conduct of bridge inspections.
Bridge inspections shall be conducted under the direct supervision of a designated railroad bridge inspector, who shall be responsible for the accuracy of the results and the conformity of the inspection to the bridge management program.
§ 237.109   Bridge inspection records.
(a) Each track owner to which this part applies shall keep a record of each inspection required to be performed on those bridges under this part.
(b) Each record of an inspection under the bridge management program prescribed in this part shall be prepared from notes taken on the day(s) the inspection is made, supplemented with sketches and photographs as needed. Such record will be dated with the date(s) the physical inspection takes place and the date the record is created, and it will be signed or otherwise certified by the person making the inspection.
(c) Each bridge management program shall specify that every bridge inspection report shall include, as a minimum, the following information:
(1) A precise identification of the bridge inspected;
(2) The date on which the physical inspection was completed;
(3) The identification and written or electronic signature of the inspector;
(4) The type of inspection performed, in conformance with the definitions of inspection types in the bridge management program;
(5) An indication on the report as to whether any item noted thereon requires expedited or critical review by a railroad bridge engineer, and any restrictions placed at the time of the inspection;
(6) The condition of components inspected, which may be in a condition reporting format prescribed in the bridge management program, together with any narrative descriptions necessary for the correct interpretation of the report; and
(7) When an inspection does not encompass the entire bridge, the portions of the bridge which were inspected shall be identified in the report.
(d) An initial report of each bridge inspection shall be placed in the location designated in the bridge management program within 30 calendar days of the completion of the inspection unless the complete inspection report is filed first. The initial report shall include the information required by paragraphs (c)(1) through (c)(5) of this section.
(e) A complete report of each bridge inspection, including as a minimum the information required in paragraphs (c)(1) through (c)(6) of this section, shall be placed in the location designated in the bridge management program within 120 calendar days of the completion of the inspection.
(f) Each bridge inspection program shall specify the retention period and location for bridge inspection records. The retention period shall be no less than two years following the completion of the inspection. Records of underwater inspections shall be retained until the completion and review of the next underwater inspection of the bridge.
(g) If a bridge inspector, supervisor, or engineer discovers a deficient condition on a bridge that affects the immediate safety of train operations, that person shall report the condition as promptly as possible to the person who controls the operation of trains on the bridge in order to protect the safety of train operations.
§ 237.111   Review of bridge inspection reports.
Bridge inspection reports shall be reviewed by railroad bridge supervisors and railroad bridge engineers to:
(a) Determine whether inspections have been performed in accordance with the prescribed schedule and specified procedures;
(b) Evaluate whether any items on the report represent a present or potential hazard to safety;
(c) Prescribe any modifications to the inspection procedures or frequency for that particular bridge;
(d) Schedule any repairs or modifications to the bridge required to maintain its structural integrity; and
(e) Determine the need for further higher-level review.
§ 237.131   Design.
Each repair or modification which materially modifies the capacity of a bridge or the stresses in any primary load-carrying component of a bridge shall be designed by a railroad bridge engineer. The design shall specify the manner in which railroad traffic or other live loads may be permitted on the bridge while it is being modified or repaired. Designs and procedures for repair or modification of bridges of a common configuration, such as timber trestles, or instructions for in-kind replacement of bridge components, may be issued as a common standard. Where the common standard addresses procedures and methods that could materially modify the capacity of a bridge or the stresses in any primary load-carrying component of a bridge, the standard shall be designed and issued by a qualified railroad bridge engineer.
§ 237.133   Supervision of repairs and modifications.
Each repair or modification pursuant to this part shall be performed under the immediate supervision of a railroad bridge supervisor as defined in § 237.55 of this part who is designated and authorized by the track owner to supervise the particular work to be performed. The railroad bridge supervisor shall ensure that railroad traffic or other live loads permitted on the bridge under repair or modification are in conformity with the specifications in the design.
§ 237.151   Audits; general.
Each program adopted to comply with this part shall include provisions for auditing the effectiveness of the several provisions of that program, including the validity of bridge inspection reports and bridge inventory data, and the correct application of movement restrictions to railroad equipment of exceptional weight or configuration.
§ 237.153   Audits of inspections.
(a) Each bridge management program shall incorporate provisions for an internal audit to determine whether the inspection provisions of the program are being followed, and whether the program itself is effectively providing for the continued safety of the subject bridges.
(b) The inspection audit shall include an evaluation of a representative sampling of bridge inspection reports at the bridges noted on the reports to determine whether the reports accurately describe the condition of the bridge.
§ 237.155   Documents and records.
Each track owner required to implement a bridge management program and keep records under this part shall make those program documents and records available for inspection and reproduction by the Federal Railroad Administration.
(a) Electronic recordkeeping; general. For purposes of compliance with the recordkeeping requirements of this part, a track owner may create and maintain any of the records required by this part through electronic transmission, storage, and retrieval provided that all of the following conditions are met:
(1) The system used to generate the electronic record meets all requirements of this subpart;
(2) The electronically generated record contains the information required by this part;
(3) The track owner monitors its electronic records database through sufficient number of monitoring indicators to ensure a high degree of accuracy of these records;
(4) The track owner shall train its employees who use the system on the proper use of the electronic recordkeeping system; and
(5) The track owner maintains an information technology security program adequate to ensure the integrity of the system, including the prevention of unauthorized access to the program logic or individual records.
(b) System security. The integrity of the bridge inspection records must be protected by a security system that incorporates a user identity and password, or a comparable method, to establish appropriate levels of program and record data access meeting all of the following standards:
(1) No two individuals have the same electronic identity;
(2) A record cannot be deleted or altered by any individual after the record is certified by the employee who created the record;
(3) Any amendment to a record is either—
(i) Electronically stored apart from the record that it amends; or
(ii) Electronically attached to the record as information without changing the original record;
(4) Each amendment to a record uniquely identifies the person making the amendment; and
(5) The electronic system provides for the maintenance of inspection records as originally submitted without corruption or loss of data.